The National Assembly will on Thursday decorate lawmakers from both the ruling party and opposition with medals for their hard work for the nation.

Even opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who remains in self-imposed exile to avoid jail on incitement charges and was last month stripped of his lawmaker status by the CPP, will receive the honour, according to parliament secretary general Leng Peng Long.

Peng Long said the medal, and an accompanying certificate, was automatically given to parliamentarians twice during each mandate, with Thursday’s batch the first such decorations handed out during the current fifth legislature.

CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann said the party’s 55 legislators deserved the medal for their efforts, though no one would be forced to attend the ceremony.

CPP spokesman Chheang Vun said Rainsy was still eligible for the decoration as it was planned “before he had a problem”.

The disputed 2013 elections sparked an almost year-long parliamentary boycott by Cambodia National Rescue Party candidates, who took their seats following a political deal in July last year.